A question mark is hanging over Lance Stroll’s future in Formula 1.
Aston Martin has just inked a new contract for 2025 and 2026 with Fernando Alonso, but team boss Mike Krack warned in Shanghai that 25-year-old Stroll’s future will only be dealt with "in the coming weeks".
However, he also insisted that Aston Martin "is Lance’s home" - an obvious comment given that the Silverstone-based team is owned by the Canadian driver’s billionaire father Lawrence.
1996 world champion Damon Hill joked this week that Stroll might actually decide to give up on F1 to play "tennis", while former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan echoed that view by predicting Stroll will stop at the end of the season.
Those predictions came as the on-form Ferrari refugee Carlos Sainz is busily looking around for a new team for 2025, setting up the mouth-watering prospect of an all-Spanish driver lineup.
Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa, however, hit back at the Stroll rumours, including the prediction that the 25-year-old might be better suited to a management role.
"He had two incredible races in Jeddah and Australia where he was sometimes faster than Fernando," de la Rosa said. "I mean, why would he not want to continue?"
Alonso even leapt to his teammate’s defence on Thursday, applauding the fact that Stroll is "a lot more sensitive" to car handling and minor issues than he is.
"I think that’s very, very important for the team," said the 42-year-old. "I think the analysis that Lance can reach and can feed back to the team is crucial to us and to improve the car.
"I think we benefit from each other in many different ways, and this is a good thing at the moment," Alonso added.
Critically, however, even Stroll himself was reluctant to declare in China that he definitely sees himself still on the grid beyond this season.
"Time will tell," he is quoted by Le Journal de Montreal. "I’m just thinking about China now, and we’ll see what the future has in store for us."